The Hardest Optional Bosses In Final Fantasy Games, Ranked

Key Takeaways

• Some optional bosses in Final Fantasy are notorious for reaching ridiculous levels of difficulty.
• Ozma in FF9 requires players to optimize loadout and complete sidequests for success.
• Penance in FF10 demands grinding to max the Sphere Grid for a chance at victory.

Most players are well aware of the numerous optional bosses that have become a mainstay in Final Fantasy, with these encounters pushing players to the max or rewarding them for exploring additional areas. However, there are times when the difficulty of these battles reaches ridiculous levels.

Some of the most infamous optional boss fights in Final Fantasy are a downright nightmare to tackle, with most players preferring to avoid these encounters altogether. However, players who optimize their party loadout and level up to the max can take out these bosses after a lengthy and grueling battle.

8 Ozma

A Superboss That Can Be Made Easier After Completing The Friendly Monsters Sidequest

Given how Final Fantasy 9 embodies the best qualities of the series, it’s easy to see why this game has two superbosses that can be quite challenging. While Hades can still be defeated as long as players are diligent in this encounter, the same can’t be said for Ozma.

This boss is no joke, and players who don’t complete the Friendly Monsters sidequest will find this encounter to be downright impossible to get through. Thankfully, completing this side activity ensures that Ozma is not out of reach for regular attacks and makes him weak to the Shadow element, making this encounter slightly less grueling to get through.

7 Emerald Weapon

A Hard And Iconic Superboss That’s Fought Underwater And Punishes Characters With Too Many Materia

Players with thalassophobia will hate roaming around in the submarine only to see this massive Weapon appear in the distance. Players who decide to bite off more than they can chew will be rueing their decision after seeing just how insurmountable this boss fight is.

Emerald Weapon’s fight occurs underwater, which gives players 20 minutes to defeat this boss before they drown. They can overcome this issue by equipping the Underwater materia, but there’s a catch — Emerald Weapon boasts an attack called Aire Tam Storm that hits for 1111 damage for each piece of materia equipped. This means that players who equip more than eight materia on a character will doom them whenever Emerald Weapon whips out this attack.

6 Iron Giant

Boasts A Simple Yet Devastating Moveset That Can Be Hard To Manage

Final Fantasy 3 can be a challenging game for players who struggle to get used to its dated mechanics. However, the game is largely doable after the party becomes stronger, but all their progress will count for naught if they decide to take on the dreaded Iron Giant in battle.

Despite boasting a simple moveset, what makes Iron Giant such an imposing enemy is that it attacks four times per turn and starts using Swipe after 2/3rds of his health is depleted. This all-attack move hits for major damage and can wipe out the party if no safeguards are put into place to deal with this move.

5 Chronodia

A Boss That Can Be Easier Or Harder Depending On The Player’s Actions In The Labyrinth Of Time

The updated release of Final Fantasy includes new content, including the Labyrinth of Time dungeon that boasts some of the hardest encounters in the game. It also includes eight puzzles that must be solved within a certain time limit if players don’t want to fail.

However, these failures may not be all that punishing. After all, the toughest superboss in the game, Chronodia, becomes stronger with each completed puzzle. Players who successfully solve all eight puzzles will be greeted with the hardest version of this boss who takes no prisoners and can wipe out the party in a flash.

4 Proto-Babil

The Toughest Superboss In One Of The Hardest Final Fantasy Games Ever Made

Final Fantasy 4‘s 3D Remake is easily one of the most challenging games in the series. Most players relish this heightened difficulty, with this game adding two superbosses that serve as the ultimate challenge for players to deal with.

Geryon can be encountered in a first playthrough, but players must steal the Dark Matter item from Zeromus and use it in New Game+ to fight against Proto-Babil. This is the hardest boss in the game by a country mile, and players must be equipped to the nines to even stand a chance of defeating this tough foe.

3 The Five Archadian Judges

A Ridiculous Encounter That Requires An Ironclad Strategy

The unique combat system of Final Fantasy 12 can take a while to get used to, but players who put in the work and master the Gambit system can essentially put down the controller and let every battle play out automatically to secure victory in a flash. However, players must be active at all times when completing the Trial Mode challenges added to the Zodiac age version of the game.

The final trial qualifies as one of the hardest fights in Final Fantasy history. Taking on all five Archadian Judges at once is no joke, and players must ensure that their Gambits account for every possible scenario in this encounter to come out victorious after a long, challenging encounter that leaves no room for error.

2 Penance

Players Must Grind To The Nines And Max Out The Sphere Grid To Stand A Chance Against This Foe

Players who think that Final Fantasy 10 becomes too easy after acquiring the Celestial Weapons will sing a different tune after trying to battle the Dark Aeons. Players must grind out the Sphere Grid to stand a chance against these foes, and their main party should be maxed out if they wish to tackle the game’s ultimate superboss, Penance.

This fight is no joke, and players must unleash a steady offense to ensure that they aren’t wiped out by Penance in record time. It’s a stressful battle where a single misstep can lead to the party’s demise, which makes victory taste that much sweeter as players complete the game’s ultimate challenge.

1 Absolute Virtue

A Boss Added In The Chains Of Promathia Expansion Who Was So Tough That It Attracted Bad Press

Final Fantasy has its fair share of superbosses, but it takes something special for a boss to be so powerful that it attracts negative press for one of its games. Such was the case with Absolute Virtue, a battle so lengthy and taxing at the time that players felt the Level 75 cap was a slap in the face of players who didn’t stand a chance against this boss even with an optimized build.

With the game being targeted by the gaming press for promoting unhealthy habits where players were forced to sacrifice precious sleep as they clocked in thirty hours or more in this boss, it’s easy to see why the developers nerfed this boss fight in later patches. Even with the level cap rising with subsequent expansions, Absolute Virtue is a nightmare to deal with and one of the hardest encounters in this beloved MMORPG.